Looking at her view on the following issues doesn’t make a lot of sense that she would be a targeted by a nutcase who was opposing the government.
Energy
Giffords strongly supports renewable energy, in particular solar energy, as a top public policy priority.[35]
In September 2007 she published a report titled: The Community Solar Energy Initiative, Solar Energy in Southern Arizona, observing that Arizona has enough sunshine to power the entire United States. It reviews current energy usage and discusses how to increase the production of solar electricity.[36] On 1 August 2008 she wrote to congressional leaders regarding tax credits that were set to expire, saying that failure to extend the scheme would be extremely harmful to the renewable energy industry “just as it is beginning to take off.”[37]
Gun rights
Giffords supports gun rights.[38] She opposed the Washington D.C. gun ban, signing an Amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to support its overturn.[38][39] She has a D+ rating from the NRA[40] and a D- from the GOA.[41]
Immigration and border security
Rep. Giffords with the Commandant of the Coast Guard
Arizona’s 8th Congressional District is one of 10 in the country bordering Mexico. Giffords has stated that the Arizona SB1070 legislation is a “clear calling that the federal government needs to do a better job”[42] and saying that she hopes the legislation acts as a wake up call to the federal government. However, she stopped short of supporting the law itself, saying that it “does nothing to secure our border” and that it “stands in direct contradiction to our past and, as a result, threatens our future.” She also claimed that SB1070 kept Arizona from attracting students and businesses.[43]
On August 31, 2010, Giffords praised the arrival of National Guard troops on the border: “Arizonans have waited a long time for the deployment of the National Guard in our state. Their arrival represents a renewed national commitment to protecting our border communities from drug cartels and smugglers.“[44]
Giffords worked to secure passage of the August 2010 bill to to fund more Border Patrol agents and surveillance technology for Arizona’s border with Mexico. The legislation passed the House of Representatives only to be sent back by the U.S. Senate with reduced funding. Ultimately a $600 million bill was passed and signed in to law. The bill was over $100 million less than Giffords fought for, but she said that “This funding signals a stronger federal commitment to protect those Americans who live and work near the border.”[45]
In 2008, Giffords introduced legislation that would have increased the cap on the H-1B visa from 65,000 per year to 130,000 per year.[46] If that were not sufficient, according to her legislation, the cap would have been increased to 180,000 per year.[47] The bill would have allowed, at most, 50% of employees at any given company with at least 50 employees to be H-1B guest workers.[48] A large number of H-1B visas are used by outsourcing companies, as five of the top ten users of the visa are regularly outsourcing corporations.[49] Giffords claimed the bill would help high-tech companies in southern Arizona, some of which rely on H1-B employees.[48] Giffords’ bill was never voted on by the House of Representatives.
via Gabrielle Giffords – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Gabrielle Giffords
The Arizona Snowbowl resort has found a way to turn human sewage into snow, giving new meaning to “slippery slope”
